Tell me about Air Tran

[Octoberbabiesrus]

Specifically seating. We booked our flight months ago. I am traveling with 2 people that have never flown, my anxiety ridden husband, a toddler whom I am sure will freak when we takeoff/land like he did last year. And my father in law whom has flown tons.

 

[disneymami]

Specifically seating. We booked our flight months ago. I am traveling with 2 people that have never flown, my anxiety ridden husband, a toddler whom I am sure will freak when we takeoff/land like he did last year. And my father in law whom has flown tons.

I flew Air Tran from White Plains to Orlando 2 weeks ago with my DH, and my twin DDs age 8 - one of which is autistic. Our flight did not take off until 45 minutes after the departure time. The whole time we spent on the plane. They told us this was due to bad weather in new york and also in orlando. So finally we take off and then 2 hours later the pilot tells us that we have to land in Daytona because we ran out of fuel The 45 minutes spent on the tarmac in white plains burned a lot of fuel so the plane did not have enough gas to get to orlando. We land in Daytona and takes another 30 minutes to refuel then about 5 min to fly to orlando. I thought my autistic daughter was going to storm the cockpit. She was nearly inconsolable. Good thing I brought 5 apples and a box of goldfish crackers. She was starving. My other daughter and my DH took it well enough.

I hope you have a far better flight. Coming home was absolutely no problem.

 

[Disney Ella]

Have you paid for and selected seats or are you hoping to get seats together at 24 hours? If you haven't paid for a seat selection, it sounds like it might be a good idea in your case. We have flown Air Tran several times and have never had a problem. They do change flight times, but we've never had a flight change more than 1 1/2 hours. I check every few days to see if the flights have been changed and if there is an aircraft change and our seat assignments are no longer appearing, I call right away and get new seats assigned.

Does your husband have anything to distract him when you fly? A movie to watch on a laptop or a book.

 

[Octoberbabiesrus]

We booked through Orbitz. They asked if we wanted window,middle or aisle. Nothing else.

 

[Disney Ella]

Does your confirmation list seat numbers? If not, you might want to get in touch with Orbitz and ask for assigned seats (assuming you want them).

 

[1971DBday]

Hello! You can take the reservation number you got and go either online or call Air Tran and pay the additional fee to choose your seats ahead of time. I highly recommend this with flying with a toddler! We flew last year on Air Tran from Midway and it was WONDERFUL! We used to fly out of O'Hare and now feel spoiled with Midway:
1. It was much easier to get to for us;
2. NOT CROWDED (we flew out on Thanksgiving Day). We ended up having enough time to watch some airplanes (for the 2 year old) and get a nice breakfast in. The year before we ran to our flight.)
3. Check-in: walked right up to the attendant - no line;
4. Security line: fast, efficient, prompt.

Anyway, as for the toddler I would like to suggest a game. When we are driving we play the airplane/school bus game. A point for every school bus you find and 3 points for every airplane. This not only kept her occupied in the car, but got her excited to get on an airplane. I would ask her where the airplane was going and she would always say DISNEY! I have NEVER flown with a toddler so easily (2 previous hellish trips before with older two. DH still over anxious about flying - I tell him not to panic the toddler and to be an adult and get over it).

Good luck and remember even if your toddler gets upset, spills or is a little too loud - the majority of those people on the plane have been there, done that! Enjoy!

 

[PoohsFan1]

Another Illinoisian here. I would definately think about bringing some sort of goody bag for your toddler. You can have things like his favorite toys, books, coloring books (if he/she have the patience for it), if you have a laptop that they can watch their favorite movies, etc.... Before our trips we always go over to the dollar store and my DDs (even though they are older) picks out the things they would like to do on the plane, usually they are work books for their grade level. Good luck and have a wonderful trip.